Drawer slide



Aug. 3, 1943. A. F. IWALLER DRAWER SLIDE Filed March 2, 1942 Patented Ag. 3, 1943.

"nnAwEnsLme- V. Jared! F...wai1er,' Ist. Char1es,-IllQassignor-tosApplication March12 194g Serial l m. lou ges "This 'invention relatestodrawer slides and'is morepartieularly concerned with an easy actionroller bearing type drawer slide.-

A; salient feature of the drawer slide of my Y The drawer slide of; myinvention has theguide thereof formed from a single piece of sheet'metalt channel-shaped. cross-section for the desired lightness and strength,the roller mounted on the front end thereof being supported on'the webof the channel and projecting through an opening in the upper flange,and theme-in body portion of the slide being also formed from a singlepiece of sheet metal to a'genera'lly channel-shaped cross-section. forlightness and strength, the upper flange of the channel slide havingrolling contact on top of the aforesaid roller 0n theguide, thechannelof the guide-fit ting freely in the channel ofthe slide, and the two.other rollers for the drawer slide being mounted on the rear'end of theslide in vertically spaced relation for rolling contact on the outerside of the flanges of the guide. 7 The inventionis illustrated intheaccompanymg drawing, in which l a a Figure 1 is a perspective viewofjone of a pair of drawer slides made in accordance with. thisinvention, the slide having aninterrnediate'; portion thereof. brokenaway so 'asftojpermitj show ing it onalarger scale;

Figs 2 is a full length .sid on a smaller scale, and

Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical sections on the lines ofthearrows. g

. The same reference numerals are .applied'to corresponding partsthroughout, these views.

3-3 and -4 4.or Fi g. ZloQking'in the direction view of the .rslide acorporation of Illinois 4 slide: rail 8 adapted to be suitably securedto the l ,St. Charles ManufacturingCo St. Chai les,'I ll I :fIhe guidemade .froni asingle .piece of sheet metal. bent to channelkshapedsection-so as to provide avertical-web portion .9 and upperand lowerhorizontal flangds I01 and H; The

front .end, or; theweb s is bent at right angles to close thefrontnendxof the. ohannehas indi catedat 12, and there are attachingears l3 bent frorn the edgeportions of the flanges, l0 and s at thefront and'rear ends of-the .rail for v i315 toning th same to theinnerside Wall of the A. roller l4- of an anti-friction type is cabinet. v vmountedon the inner. side of'the web}? so as to project slightlythrougha. hole [5 provided in the upper flange: l0 near the front end ofthe'drawer at two points.\ That, is, to say inthe Thereference numera15in-Figh3ydesignates drawer slide structure is of course the counterpartof that shown.

In'Other words, each of the two drawer slide structures comprises astationary guide rail 1 adapted to be suitably'secured to the side ofthe cabinet, and a movable The drawer slide structure 6,. it will theguide'rail', the bearing i l'being permanently secured to the web 9 byriveting, as indicated at H5 in Fig- 3.. The slide rai1 8 has the mainbodyportionthereof made rorn a'single piece. of sheet metal bentrtogenerally.channelashaped cross-section, s'o'as. to provide the verticalweb 11 and upper and lower flanges lSgand l9. The

flanges are bent to] generally; V-shaped section,

as' indicatedeat' 20,. and the free edge portions 21 are bent intotheyertical'plane of' thewb'j portion !1. A plate 22 has theedge'portions. 2| of the slide .rail 8 fwelde'd thereto,. as indicatedat23, and thisplate. has two anti-friction rollers 24 and 25 'mountedthereon adjacent therear endof the slide rail, the roller 24 beingdisposed above the guide rail'lii'or rolling'contact-o'n top tioned. hasrolling. contact with the body 1 of the flange l8,asclearlyfappearsin'Fig. 3.

Inoperation, the present draia erslidestructure alwaysprovideaantifriction roller supportjfor initial outward movement ofthedrawe'r, the roll ersM and 24' providethe support andcontinu'eto do,so'iuntil the drawer is pulled out -more than half way ffat'which' time,dueto theftiltingof the drawerjon the front roller E iasa fulcrum, the

rolleif 25 is brought into play and contacts the bottom flange H of theg'uide rail, From that pointon until-thedrawer is pulled all of thewayout, the rollers ld and 25 assume the load. In drawers having onlyoneortwo rolleribearings in eachdrawer slide structure, the loadeddrawer -mayoperate fairly smoothly up to the point I where the drawer isabouthalfway out. then irontfend or the? drawer drops enoughto'make therear'rbller bearing; ifany, ineffective and there is accordingly toomuch loading on the front roller and it usually requires a heavy pull toovercome the drag in pulling. the drawer the rest of the way out. Inpushing the drawer back in, where thedrawer slide-structure has only oneor two roller bearings, there isthesame objection, resistance beingencountered at the rear of the] drawer until the drawer has been movedin about half way to make the rear bearing effective. Drawers havingonly a single roller bearing in each drawer slide structure are, ofcourse, much' harder to operate for obvious reasons, The drawer tact onthe last mentioned bearing member, the two other bearing members beingmounted in vertically spacedprelation on the rear end of the slide railfor bearing contact on the first mentioned track surfaces on the'guiderail, the

. last mentioned bearing members being spaced vertically a distanceslightly greater than the slide of my invention avoidstheobjectionsjust? mentioned, because of the fact that each drawer slide structurehas two rollersfurnishing roller support in any position of the drawer.The lower rollers 25 are located close enough to the bottom of theguide-rails I so that when they come into play it is not atall'noticeable andthe drawer is movable smoothly from 'one'limitposition to the other in either direction.- The sheet metal constructionand channel shape of both the slide and guide rails makes for'lightnessand strength aswell as low cost of manufacture.

- Itii's believed the' foregoing description conveys a goodunderstanding of the objects and advantages of my invention; Theappended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modific'aa tionsand adaptations.

I claim: 1. A drawer, slide structure comprising, in

combination, a stationary guide rail formed tochannel-shapedcross-section to provide upper and lower track surfaces onthe outer sides of its upper and lower longitudinal flanges, arelatively movable slide rail formed to channels haped cross-section anddisposed in telescoping relation. with the guide rail, and three rollerbearings for, anti-friction roller support of the slide'rail on theguiderail, one mounted in the front end of the guide rail with the topportion therof projecting slightly above the planeof the upper tracksurface through an opening provided in the upper flange of theguiderail, the slide rail having a track surface provided on the bottomof the upper flange thereof for rolling contact on the'last mentionedroller, the two other roller bearings being mounted in verticallyspacedrelation on the rear end of the slide rail for rollin contact on thefirst mentioned track surfaces on the guide rail; the last mentionedroller bearings i being spacedlvertically a distance slightlygreaterthan the distance between the upper and lower trackfsurfaces on theguide rail to permitmovementofl thetwo roller bearings past, the frontrollcr bearing in, the removal and replacement of a drawer on which themovable slide rail isattached. v i f 1 v 2. A drawer slide structurecomprising, in com-, bination, a stationary guide rail formed tochannel-shaped cross-section to provide upper and lower track surfacesIon the outer sides of its upper andlowerilongitudinal flanges, arelatively movable slide rail formed to channel-shaped cross-section anddisposed in telescoping relation with the guide rail, and three bearingmembers for support of the slide railon theguide rail,lone mounted inthe front end of the guide rail with the top portion thereof aprojecting slightly above the. plane of the upper track surface throughan opening provided in the .upper flange of the guide rail, the.sliderail havmg a track surface providedqon the bottom of the upperflange thereof for bearing condistance between the upper and lower tracksurfaces on the guide rail to permit movement of the two bearing memberspast the front bearing member in the removal and replacement of a draweron which the movable slide rail is attached.

'3. A drawer slide structure comprising, in combination, a one-piece,sheet metal, stationary guide railfo'rmed to channel-shapedcross-section to provide upper and lower tracksurfaces on the outersides of its upper and lower longitudinal flanges, the edge portions ofsaid upper and lower flanges being bent to provide attaching ears 'in avertical plane substantially parallel to the providing a track surfaceon the bottom thereof engaging the top portion of the aforesaid roller,the upper and lower flanges of the slide rail being bent tosubstantially V-shaped cross-section and having the longitudinal edgeportions thereof bent into a vertical plane substantially parallel tothe web portion of the slide rail to form attaching portions, a platesecured to said attaching portions 'at the rear end of the slide rail;and two, rolle'rs'mounted in vertically spaced relation on said platefor rolling contact on the first mentioned track surfaces on the guiderail, the

. tween the upper and lower track surfaces 'on' the guide rail to permitmovement of the two rollers past the front roller in'the removal andreplacement of a drawer on which the movable slide rail is attached. r Ie 4. A drawer slide structure, comprising, in combination, a stationaryguide rail providing upper and'low e'r longitudinal track surfacesthereon, a roller mounted on the frontend portion of said guide rail andprojecting slightlyabove'the plane of the upper track surface, arelatively movable slide rail providing a track surface thereonoverlying the top portion of the guide rail and enga ing the aforesaidroller for support, and two rollers supported in vertically spacedrelation on the rear end of the slide rail and having rolling contact onthe first mentioned track surfaces on the guide rail, the last mentionedrollers being spaced vertically a distance slightly greater than thedistance between the upper and lower track surfaces on the guide rail topermit movement of the two rollers past the front roller in the removaland re-

